Walter Lantz - Start in Animation, The Oswald Era, The Woody Woodpecker Era, Retirement, Characters, Walter Lantz "Cartunes"
Cartoonist and film animator, born in New Rochelle, New York, USA. An office boy on the New York American (1914), he studied cartooning by correspondence course, then started with William Randolph Hearst's animation studio in 1916. He rose to be writer/director/star of his own Dinky Doodle cartoons, then went to Hollywood, where he took over Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1928), and remained with Universal Pictures for over 50 years. Of the many characters he created, the most popular is Woody Woodpecker, whose characteristic laugh was supplied by his wife, actress Grace Stafford (d.1992).
Walter Lantz (April 27, 1900 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist and animator, best known for founding the Walter Lantz Studio and creating Woody Woodpecker.
Start in Animation
Walter Lantz was born Walter Benjamin Lanza on April 27, 1900 in New Rochelle, New York into a family of Italian immigrants, his parents being Francesco Paolo Lanza and Maria Gervasi (later Jarvis), the latter coming from Calitri, Italy. Lantz got his first taste of animation when he watched Winsor McCay’s cartoon short, Gertie the Dinosaur.
While working as an auto mechanic, Lantz got his first break in the art world.
By the time he was sixteen, Lantz was working behind the camera in the animation department under the supervision of director Gregory La Cava. In 1924, Lantz began to rise to prominence at the studio and directed, animated, and even starred in his first cartoon series, Dinky Doodle.
The Oswald Era
In 1928, Lantz was hired by Charles B. While schmoozing with Laemmle, Lantz wagered a bet that if he could beat the producer in a game of poker that the character would be his. As fate would have it, Lantz successfully won the bet and Oswald was now his character.
As Lantz began assembling a new studio, he decided to select a fellow New York animator, Bill Nolan, to help develop the series. In September 1929, Lantz finally put out his first cartoon, Race Riot.
By 1935, Lantz had managed to become an independent producer, supplying cartoons to Universal instead of merely overseeing the animation department.
The Woody Woodpecker Era
When Oswald had worn out his welcome, Lantz decided that he needed a new character. However, one character, Andy Panda, stood out from the rest and soon became Lantz's headline star for the 1939-1940 production season.
In 1940 Lantz had married a woman named Grace Stafford. Taking her advice, though a bit skeptical about its success, Lantz debuted Woody Woodpecker as a side star in an animation short called “Knock Knock” featuring Andy Panda.
Mel Blanc supplied Woody's voice for his first three cartoons. and left the Lantz studio, gagman Ben Hardaway, who was the main force responsible for Knock Knock, became the bird's voice.
During 1948, the Lantz studio had a hit Academy Award-nominated tune in “The Woody Woodpecker Song”, featuring Blanc’s laugh. Mel Blanc sued Lantz for half a million dollars, claiming that Lantz had used his voice in various later cartoons without his permission. Even though Lantz had won the case, he paid Blanc the money in an out-of-court settlement when Blanc filed an appeal, and went off to search for a new voice for Woody Woodpecker.
In 1950, Lantz held anonymous auditions. Gracie, Lantz's wife, had offered to do Woody's voice; however, Lantz turned her down because Woody was a male character. Not knowing whose voice was being heard, Lantz picked Gracie’s voice to do Woody Woodpecker. Gracie supplied Woody’s voice until Lantz finally stopped making new cartoons for Woody Woodpecker.
The baby boomer generation came to know and love Lantz as the creator of the Woody Woodpecker cartoons.
Retirement
Walter Lantz's studio closed in 1972. In his retirement, Lantz continued to manage his studio’s properties by offering re-releases of cartoons and sales to new venues. In 1982, Lantz donated seventeen artifacts to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, among them a wooden model of Woody Woodpecker from the cartoon character’s debut in 1941.
In 1993, Lantz established a ten thousand dollar scholarship and prize for animators in his name at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. Walter Lantz died at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California of heart failure on March 22, 1994, aged 93.
Characters
Some of the characters in the Lantz universe (both cartoons and comics) are Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Space Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, Homer Pigeon, Chilly Willy, Andy Panda and Charlie Chicken and many more.
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